“I don’t think Liverpool will win” Gary Neville, the former Manchester United player says it will be a ‘battle of midfield’ and Real Madrid have the upper hand there. 



47 year old Neville who has played 400 matches for Manchester United and coached Valencia is now regarded as one of the best football pundits on British television. Neville has regularly been praised for his well-researched and neutral analysis, and says Real Madrid’s midfield will overpower Liverpool in the Champions league final in Paris. 


“I’ve thought a lot about (the final) and I’ve thought about Real Madrid and why they’ve won their games, why they keep coming back. 


Real Madrid’s midfield in Casemiro, Kroos, Modric, plus the two that come in late with Valverde and Camavinga, those five drive them right from the first minute and right to the end. And Carlo Ancelotti interferes with them until the very end. 


I think Liverpool’s midfield is their weak point and in the last 15 minutes that midfield for Real Madrid, the five of them combined, will see them win the game.”


Real Madrid’s midfielders Casemiro, Kroos, Modric has been playing together for over 7 years and 200+ matches. They are very experienced, creative and technically strong. While Casemiro wins balls in air and ground, Modric creates chances and holds the ball, Kroos switches the game to left and right and provides assists with accurate passes. At times, these three can score goals too. Camavinga is an energetic young player, who is capable of replacing any three of these. 


Thiago is the key in Liverpool midfield. In the last 2 Champions league matches, Thiago, Keita and Fabinho started for them. They rely more on their extremely talented forwards and fullbacks in the 4-3-3 system. It will be also interesting to see the battle between Alex Arnold and Vinicius Jr in that position. Henderson, Milner, Elliot, Oxlade-Chamberlain are other options for Liverpool at the mid. 


Meanwhile, Salah is getting ready to pay back for the foul on him and the final loss in the 2018 final. Salah’s hand was injured and Liverpool went on to lose 3-1 after goalkeeper Karius made irremediable mistakes.